


Between Two Worlds

by Spintopcornchips



Category: Tales of Arcadia (Cartoons)
Genre: Adoption, Angst, Basically I've taken the plot of Trollhunters and thrown my own OC in, F/M, Fluff, Gen, M/M, Not Canon Compliant, TrollFam!
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-24
Updated: 2021-01-05
Packaged: 2021-03-08 03:21:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 17,415
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26628946
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spintopcornchips/pseuds/Spintopcornchips
Summary: In the present, she is a small baby between two worlds. She is a human with magic and a troll who looks like a human. She has a family who will always protect her and shield her.(It's the plot of Trollhunters with my own OC for fun)
Relationships: Aaarrrgghh & Original Female Character, Aaarrrgghh/Blinkous "Blinky" Galadrigal, Archie & Hisirdoux "Douxie" Casperan & Nari, Archie & Original Female Character, Blinky Galadrigal & Original Female Character, Claire Nuñez & Original Female Character, Douxie Casperan & Original Female Character, Draal & Original Female Character, Eli & Original Female Character, Hisirdoux "Douxie" Casperan/Zoe, Jim Lake Jr. & Original Female Character, Jim Lake Jr./Claire Nuñez, Steve Palchuk/Eli Pepperjack, Zoe & Original Female Character
Comments: 7
Kudos: 33





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello there! This is my first time posting on Ao3, so all constuctive criticisim regarding formatting, character writing and plot is welcome. Please be nice and I hope you enjoy the story.

ARRRGH had never encountered a human child before. He’d only ever seen adult humans from a distance (and when they saw him, they mostly screamed and ran in the opposite direction). ARRRGH never expected his first interaction with a human baby to be right outside of Trollmarket as he brought supplies in. 

The child was very small, or perhaps average (he had no way of knowing). It had fair skin, deep hazel eyes and the basket it was in seemed to be very deliberately placed right outside of the entrance to Trollmarket. ARRRGH looked left and then right for any sign of a parent coming to collect their child. When he was sure no one was coming, he scooped up the basket and placed it in his cart. 

After he finished delivering the supplies to various places around the massive underground cavern, ARRRGH decided the best place to go to for advice regarding the baby would be his partner, Blinky. Often found in his library, Blinky was one of the more studious trolls. He would probably have a clever idea of how to take care of the small human. Cradling the basket in one of his large arms, ARRRGH made his way down to the library. At first glance, there appeared to be no one there, but ARRRGH knew his partner better.

“Blinky?” He called out to the stacks of books.

“ARRRGH! There you are!” Blinky emerged from the piles of books with a stack in his upper two hands and two more books in the others. “I was wondering where you’d gotten to. You don’t usually take this long to deliver- Great Gronka Morka, what is THAT!” He squawked after putting down the books and turning his attention to ARRRGH and the very, very small fleshling in his arms.

“Human. Found outside Trollmarket. No parents.”

“WHY do you have it WITH YOU? Oh, Vendel will have our heads if he finds out about this.” Blinky began pacing back and forth between the stacks, his mind was going into overdrive trying to figure out what to do. Then, it came to him. 

“Put it back,” Blinky said simply.

A furrow formed across ARRRGH’s brow. “Put back, why?”

“Surely it has parents, ARRRGH. They will be missing it.”

“Already said, no parents. Not taking back.” 

Blinky sighed. ARRRGH could be a stubborn creature at times. But he was not stupid. Dull at times, yes, but not stupid. He could see sense. “And how, pray tell, do you intend to raise it, care for it, nurture it.”

“Blinky smart. Figured you could help.” ARRRGH adjusted his hold on the child a little bit, but a little bit was enough to disturb the baby’s slumber. 

It let out a small whimper which became a full-blown cry within a few seconds.  
ARRRGH tried his best to quiet the screaming human while Blinky rummaged through his vast collection of books. 

“Come on, come on. Thousands of books and not a single one about human infants!”

“BLINKOUS GALADRIGAL!” Blinky winced at the sound of his full name being used as the village elder descended the stairs into his library. ARRRGH looked around for a place to hide the human before Vendel discovered it. He tucked the now quiet baby between two piles of books just as Vendel came down the last step. 

“I may be old and hard of hearing, but there are some very distinct sounds that cannot be mistaken for anything else. I just heard the sound of a crying infant. Specifically, a human infant. Care to explain yourselves?” Vendel put his arms behind his back and leaned in intently to listen. 

Blinky laughed nervously while ARRRGH took on a more defensive stance, “Why you care?” He questioned the elder troll.

“I care because human whelps cannot enter Trollmarket unless they are brought in by someone on the inside. Why a troll would bring a human of all things here is beyond me. So please, I’m all ears.” He punctuated his sentence by flicking his ears up.

Blinky laughed again. “Why, there’s nothing to explain. ARRRGH and I were simply… uhh… you see, we were-”

A squeal of delight cut him off. Vendel looked sharply towards ARRRGH and the stacks of books behind him. A look of surprise and dismay crossed ARRRGH’s face. It was quickly replaced with a protective snarl.

“ARRRGH, move aside,” Vendel commanded.

“No.” He said simply.

“ARRGH, be reasonable. I’ve already heard it. The smartest thing to do now would be putting it back.”

“NO! Not putting her back!” ARRRGH growled deep in his throat. 

Vendel opened his mouth to respond but came up short. They all paused to process what he said.

“ARRRGH,” Blinky started slowly. “How could you know if the child is female?”

ARRRGH stopped. He had been so caught up in the moment that he didn’t even know how he knew. He thought carefully about his answer. “Don’t know,” he said finally. “Can just feel.”

Vendel sighed. “Since there’s no way for you to hide it from me and I already know, may I see the child?”

ARRRGH solemnly turned around and picked up the reed basket. The baby gurgled at him and he knew in that moment, nothing would harm her as long as both of them lived.

Vendel handed his staff to Blinky and he lifted the baby out of her basket. He cradled her with surprising care for a troll seemingly wanting nothing to do with the child. His white eyes met her hazel orbs and he sensed something in her. A special type of magic that trolls could not possess. He knew what he had to do. 

“I have a human… connection. She can help us find a proper home for the baby. A human home.” He stressed the word human to exaggerate the difference between them and her. A troll could not raise a human, any more than a human could not raise a troll.


	2. Chapter 2

Zoe’s day had been average so far. It was neither good nor bad. Neither here nor there. Unfortunately, that all changed when she received a (very poorly done) summoning spell. Zoe had been in the middle of locking up the record store when she saw it. A small fluttering creature made out paper. 

She snatched it out of the air and unfolded the parchment to reveal a message written in shaky English. Zoe knew most trolls could speak English, but they were all terrible at reading or writing it. She scanned the note as she walked towards Benoit’s. 

Douxie would be getting off work soon and Zoe often delighted in ordering a coffee just before his shift ended, keeping him at work for an extra few minutes. She nearly tripped over her own feet as she came up to the crossing. She re-read the phrase to make sure it wasn’t a language error or the lighting. 

_No way,_ she thought and booked it the rest of the way. She crashed into someone coming out the door as she was headed in.

“Shit, sorry. I wasn’t looking- Douxie!” Zoe cut herself off in the middle of her sentence as she recognised the indigo streaks of her (very, very) long time partner, Hisirdoux Casperan.

“Hey Zoe, the boss let me off early. So it looks like you just missed your coffee.” He grinned impishly at her, a playful look in his eyes.

“Ugh, not now, Doux! Look at what I just got.” She shoved the piece of paper towards him and grabbed his arm, leading him towards the canals. In case it was a trap, she didn't want to be alone.

“Woah, a summons. I haven’t seen one of these in centuries.” Douxie squinted at the writing, a furrow in his brow. 

By the time they arrived at the canals, his eyes were wide with shock. Trolls hadn’t asked for the help of wizards for centuries. At least the Arthurian era. And the reason was even more bizarre. A human child left right outside of the trolls’ _secret_ home was most definitely alarming. Zoe didn’t know much else except that she was to meet them in the canals at moonrise. The moon was only just peaking over the horizon, but it looked like the trolls were already there.

They slid down the side of the canal and approached the trolls with caution. Zoe looked around for the supposed baby that was the entire reason they were here, but she couldn’t see it. One of the trolls, the one with six eyes and four arms, noticed the two wizards first. He motioned to them. A large grey troll and a medium beige-coloured one with the staff turned their attention to Zoe and Douxie. 

Almost immediately, Zoe recognised the elder of Trollmarket, Vendel. Her father had told her stories of Vendel and her great-great-great-great-great- great-grandfather fighting together. They had been very close friends. She supposed this was Vendel’s way of calling in a centuries-old favour.

“Good to see you, Zoe.” Vendel greeted her. His gaze swept over both her and Douxie. “I wasn’t expecting anyone else to be here for these… proceedings.” He noted.

“Douxie’s a friend, and he’s harmless.” He gave her a mildly offended look, which she ignored.

“Another wizard.” Noted the multi-limbed troll. Zoe gave a curt nod in response.

“Thank you for coming on such short notice, Zoe. I understand that the message I sent you might have been somewhat confusing. It would be easier to show, perhaps.” 

He turned to the larger troll and nodded meaningfully behind him. Grumbling, the large troll turned around and produced a basket that at first seemed to contain blankets. Upon closer inspection, Zoe could see a small head poking out from within the mountain of white linen. She looked at the large troll, asking permission. He nodded.

Zoe carefully reached in and picked up the bundle of baby. It was smaller than she thought the average should be, but other than that, it looked remarkably healthy for a recently abandoned infant. “Is it male or female?” 

“Well, ARRRGH had a feeling that it was a girl. But we have no way of knowing for sure.” The multi-limbed troll supplied. _I really need to ask his name,_ Zoe noted. 

She quickly lifted the blanket and checked. “Well, looks like ARRRGH was right. It’s a girl. Unless it’s not.” She added as more of an afterthought. ARRRGH looked quite pleased with himself. The four-armed troll just looked mildly annoyed.

“Lucky guess.” He said.

“I don’t actually think we’ve been introduced. I’m Zoe.” She would have offered a hand to shake, but her arms were preoccupied with holding the baby.

“Ah yes. I had heard of you before, Miss Zoe. My name is Blinky Galadrigal, a pleasure to meet you.” He smiled, showing all of his sharp teeth that had likely never bitten anything more sinister than a mouse.

She regarded the baby with mild curiosity. Her larger ears and eyes looked slightly out of proportion to the rest of her head. “Her eyes look kinda like yours, Doux.” Zoe turned to Douxie, but she was surprised to see him staring at the baby. He’d never really shown an interest in children. “Douxie?”

He looked up, as though he was woken up from a strange dream. “Can you not feel that?” He asked, looking slightly troubled.

Zoe cocked her head to the side. “Feel what?”

He looked even more confused at that. Douxie held out his arms in a silent question. She carefully transferred the baby from her arms to his. 

“It’s like… a trickle of water. So small but still there… I don’t think she’s completely human.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all! Thanks so much for reading and leaving kudos on this work! I hope you're all enjoying the intro because we don't get into the plot of Trollhunters until chapter 9. If anyone was wondering, I have a few chapters pre-written, so when I finish a chapter, I'll post the next one. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy these next few chapters coming up!

“What do you mean, ‘not completely human’? She looks completely human to me!” Everyone looked towards Blinky, surprised at his sudden outburst.

“What I mean,” Douxie said, “Is that she might possess some kind of magical capabilities, but she’s too young to tell at the moment.” 

Everyone paused to let that sink in. A (possibly not) human baby, left outside a (secret) troll village in the middle of the night where any passing troll would be sure to see it. Everything was set out perfectly for the child to be found. Almost too perfectly.

“Could it be a changeling?” Vendel suggested after a few minutes of contemplation.

Various denials rose up to meet that question almost as soon as it was finished.

“Very well. What are we going to do with the child then? I assume you two might have an idea.” Vendel looked pointedly at the two wizards, one of which was still cradling the (now asleep) baby. 

Zoe and Douxie looked at each other. The obvious and most responsible thing to do would be to take the baby and leave her outside a social service centre or church and hope for the best. But all parties involved knew that it would end badly one way or another. 

“What if we kept it?” Blinky suggested.

Vendel scoffed. “Keep it! That’s absurd, Blinkous. Not to mention she would be eaten within minutes of crawling out of your sight!”

“Could work. We protect, she not get eaten.” ARRRGH said matter-of-factly. 

“Absolutely not. One species cannot raise another species!”

While the trolls (and eventually Douxie, after handing the slumbering baby off to Zoe) went at it, yelling and bickering, Zoe got thinking. _What if she was_ mostly _raised by the time she went to the trolls._ It could work. Get most of her development out of the way in a human environment, then introduce her to the trolls at a good age. But Zoe wouldn’t be able to take care of a baby by herself. 

She looked at Douxie, getting protective over the baby. Even though they’d been together for centuries, the prospect of marriage and children had never come up between them. They were both comfortable with each other and the level they were at. If he could help Zoe out with this, she felt confident he would.

She cleared her throat. 

Nothing.

She tried again with the same result.

Zoe looked down at the baby girl, _please don’t wake up,_ she prayed. Zoe brought her fingers up to her mouth and whistled as loud as she dared. That got them to quieten down, Douxie and ARRRGH both wincing and bringing their hands over their ears.

She smiled at them sweetly. “I have an idea that I think we will all like.”

“You do?” Several of them asked in unison.

She grinned again. “Yep. Me and Douxie can take her for a few years. Get her early development done in the human world. We’ll teach her about trolls and magic and all that. When we think she’s ready, we can introduce her to the troll world. After that, she can split her time between the two worlds, troll and human.” She smirked at the stunned silence that fell upon the group. 

“That’s…” Blinky started.

“It’s really…” Douxie tried.

“How did you ..?” Vendel cut himself off.

“Smart girl. Good plan, like plan.” ARRRGH was, surprisingly, the only one of them who could form an (almost) complete sentence. He patted Zoe lightly on the head. 

She giggled slightly. “Thanks.”

“So now that it seems you have decided to _keep_ the child, against my better judgement, what will it’s-” Vendel was cut off by ARRRGH growling at him. “Ahem, _her_ name be? How much time will she spend with humans and how much time with trolls? You have to figure those things out.”

The other four paused to consider this. She did need a name, and they needed a system to decide how to split her time between worlds. They went long into the night discussing it until they reached an agreement.

“So, five years should be enough time for her to have decent social skills. She’ll spend five years with us, you can visit occasionally during that time. After those five years, her time will be split between us and Trollmarket.” Douxie finished his summary of the agreement with nods coming from all sides of the circle. 

“Great, then the last thing we need to sort out is… a name.”

Everyone knew there would be some conflict with the naming of the child. But, they’d managed to make it this far without killing each other, what was a name compared to that?

Hell. That’s what it was like. 

A shouting match erupted, everyone competing for the best name, but most of the time just to be heard. They were all stubborn and had their own opinion. Some of the options were Beatrice (“Surely she’d get teased for a name like _that_ .”), Deya (“We’re _not_ naming her after a Trollhunter!”/“Who said it was the Trollhunter? I know plenty of ‘Deya’s!”) and even Britney (which everyone disagreed with). After all the others finally ran out of steam or lost their voices, ARRRGH decided to try his idea.

“What about, ‘Gaia’?”

Zoe liked that name. “It’s pretty. What does it mean?” She asked the gentle giant currently rocking the baby.

“Means ‘Earth’.”

They all regarded the baby. Her light brown hair and curious hazel eyes certainly fit the description of ‘earth’.

“Perfect.” Blinky and Douxie said simultaneously.

“That’s not a whole name though,” Zoe noted. “She needs a last name.”

They thought in silence for a few seconds before it was broken by…

“Galadrigal-Casperan!”

“Casperan-Galadrigal!”

Blinky and Douxie locked eyes and glared at each other with searing ferocity.

“Why, dear boy, should your name come before mine?” Blinky asked, almost suspiciously.

Douxie smirked slightly. “Because it sounds better.” He said simply and knew he’d won.

So it was that the girl was called Gaia Casperan-Galadrigal. CG by her high school friends, but that would be in the future. In the present, she is a small baby between two worlds. She is a human with magic and a troll who looks like a human. She has a family who will always protect her and shield her. (And other obscure family members to meet on the way.)


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... I screwed up my own update schedule with dodgy editing, so here's the last chapter I'll be posting today (I promise!)  
> also, this (⦽⦽⦽) means a break in the story or switching scenes

The next few years passed in a blur for the four semi-immortal beings. Gaia was not a hard child to raise. Often finding things to occupy herself with, even at a young age. Douxie kept insisting that she had magic, no one believed him because there was no proof. About a year after taking her in, Gaia started acting strange. Zoe chalked it up to her being a curious one-year-old, Douxie wasn’t so sure. 

One night, after making sure none of her toys were in the crib with her, Douxie put Gaia down for a nap. After five minutes of silence on the baby monitor, laughter erupted from the small speaker. Douxie shot a confused look at it before clicking it off and going to see what was happening. He nudged the door open and saw Gaia asleep in her crib… 

… With her favourite toy, a stuffed dragon that she was nearly inseparable from.  Douxie walked over to her and picked up the toy, he put it back in the box and left. 

Archie - Douxie’s familiar - returned to the bookstore to see Douxie hunched over a book about wizard physiology. He strolled over his master and curled up next to him on the couch.

“What’s happened now?” He figured Gaia must have done something for Douxie to be this engaged in a book.

Instead of an answer, Douxie asked his own question. “When do you think a wizard’s powers start to show, Arch? Because mine didn’t fully manifest until I was fourteen, but Gaia’s barely a year old!” He shut the book on a frustrated sigh and sank back into the couch.

“The younger they are when their powers start to show, the more powerful they become when they’re older, I’ve noticed. It’s why Merlin was such a formidable wizard. Why do you ask, Douxie?”

He was a little sad to hear his master’s name used, but he had to tell someone about Gaia. Archie might believe him. “Tonight when I put Gaia down to sleep, I made sure all of her toys were in the box. A few minutes later, I heard laughter but when I went to check on her, she was asleep. With her dragon.”

“Oh, well that is… troubling.”

“It’s magic, Arch! I just have to get her to show me.” Douxie was pacing now, obviously stressed.

“Or maybe,” Archie said, always trying to be the voice of reason. “You could just let. It. Go.”

Douxie stopped and stared at him. “But Arch, how can I let it go!” He whined, sounding more like a petulant child than a nine hundred-year-old wizard. 

He didn’t want to ignore the fact that Gaia was almost certainly a magical being. It was a great thing! But everyone ignored it in favour of giving her a ‘normal’ childhood. As though having trolls visit every other day was normal!

Douxie sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I just… I’ve always felt the magic within her. As she gets older, it’ll get stronger. If she starts practising now, her powers could be fully developed by the time she’s twelve. But no one believes me that she has magic.”

Archie paused in the middle of licking his paw. Douxie was always a stubborn wizard, and headstrong, too. He had a firm opinion on this, Archie decided to offer a solution. 

“So get proof.” 

Douxie thought about it. Getting proof that Gaia did, in fact, possess some magical capabilities wouldn’t be too hard. Apart from the fact that she seemed to always know when he was coming. He could set up a camera. A plan started to form in Douxie’s mind, he could get proof, easily. On his way out, he softly patted Archie on the head.

“Thanks, Arch.”

He purred in response.

⦽⦽⦽⦽⦽⦽⦽⦽⦽

“There! Do you see it?”

“No, Douxie. I  _ don’t  _ see it.”

“That’s because you’re not looking!”

Zoe rolled her eyes for what seemed like the hundredth time since she’d gotten home. Her shift at Hex Tech had ended early and she’d been looking forward to cuddling on the couch with her boyfriend and watching a movie. She even thought Gaia could join them, she seemed to like mysteries and mild horror movies.

But no. Instead she came home to find Douxie rewinding a VHS on repeat, trying to look for… something. Zoe didn’t even know what he was looking for, but she also didn’t much care. Whatever it was, it was to do with Gaia having magic. Even if she did, it was way too early to tell. 

“Douxie, you’re way too obsessed with this. I’ll believe you when you have proof.”

Douxie got a downtrodden look on his face. Zoe was right, she always was. He took the VHS out of the unit and put it back in its case.  _ She has a point,  _ he thought gloomy to himself.  _ I should just forget about it until- _

A scream interrupted Douxie’s train of thought. It was a terrified sound, coming from the baby monitor, but the person screaming was not Gaia.

“Archie!” Douxie leapt up from the couch and sprinted towards the door at the end of the hall, Zoe on his heels. He pushed open the door to reveal a very distraught Archie in his dragon form, hovering amongst a tornado of flying toys. 

The toys all had a mint-green glow surrounding them, the tell-tale trait of an object being possessed by telekinesis. Douxie looked towards the cot to see a giggling one-year-old with the same green glow around her hands.

“Well, there’s your proof.”

“I told you so.”

The moment she realised that the cat was not the only other being in the room, Gaia released the toys from her hold. They all clattered to the ground and she was left with the echo of a smile on her face. Gaia didn't get in trouble much, so she wasn’t sure if she should be worried about the looks on the older two’s faces.

They both regarded Gaia with curiosity. Neither of them, in their nine-hundred-year-old lives, had ever heard of a child using their abilities so young. This was uncharted territory, but together, they could get through.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's some of the angst I promised in the tags! Also, I write in British/Australian English, so if something looks weirdly spelt, that's most likely why.

About three months after what Douxie fondly called ‘The tornado Incident’, Gaia started talking more and more coherently. It started with sounds but was soon nearing her first word. The anticipation was high and there was always someone watching Gaia with a video recorder nearby in case she managed to say something. 

No one was really sure what her first word would be. She had of course met both ARRRGH and Blinky, but she spent more time with Zoe and Douxie. (Not that either of them thought of themselves as her parents, more like cousins.) So The Word could be anything ranging from Dad to Mum to even a jumbled version of someone’s name. There was even a possibility that her first word could be in Trollish.

A Friday night found the six of them - including Archie - in the woods surrounding Arcadia. It was a regular meeting they held each week to touch base and play a few card games, too. Blinky was especially good at Uno.

“AHA! Victorious, once more!” Blinky rejoiced as he laid down his final card.

“What-  _ How _ ?” Douxie still had six cards to even get to an Uno.

ARRRGH chuckled slightly from the side. Blinky had always been good at beating him in even the simplest games. ARRRGH preferred games of strength, like PyroBligst. He looked down at Gaia, watching the games intensely. He wondered if she would be better at strategic games and books like Blinky. Or if she’d lose those sorts of games like Douxie. 

Gaia looked up at him and giggled. Shakily, she got to her feet and turned to face him. She opened and closed her fists twice. ARRRGH remembered that this was a sign that she wanted to be picked up. He carefully lifted her off the ground and placed her on the furry part of his back. Gaia snuggled into it and watched the second match of Uno from her perch.

After a while, ARRRGH felt a light tap on his nose. He crossed his eyes to look up and saw Gaia smiling cheekily down at him.

“Dada.”

ARRRGH blinked. “What?” He held her up to his eye level. “Say again.”

“Dada!” Gaia clapped her hands, pleased with herself.

ARRRGH’s eyes widened. “Blinky…”

“Not now ARRRGH,” he dismissed his husband. “I am not letting this wizard  _ heathen  _ best me in this marvellous game that is Uno!”

“Blinky!”

“What is it, ARRRGH?”

ARRRGH huffed and spoke to Gaia. “Say again, Gaia.”

Instead of saying what she said before, Gaia decided to say something else. “Papa!” She reached for Blinky.

Everyone save for ARRRGH and Gaia gasped and went into various amounts of panic. Douxie fumbled for the camera while Archie and Zoe tried to calm themselves down. Blinky took Gaia from ARRRGH.

“What did you just say?” He questioned the toddler.

She bopped his nose. “Papa!” 

Gaia was very pleased with herself. She patted Blinky’s arms and he let her down. She toddled over to Zoe. “Z- Z- Zo-ee. Zoe!”

Zoe gave Gaia a big hug. “Yes! That’s my name.” She looked at Douxie. “What’s  _ his  _ name?”

A look of great concentration crossed Gaia’s face. “D- Du. Duke-see. Douxie!” She clapped her hands together and laughed. 

“Ha! Good job Gaia!” Douxie felt so proud, he didn’t even know why.

“What am I?” Archie questioned Gaia.

She grinned. Zoe let Gaia go and she went and sat down in front of Archie. Gaia pulled Archie into her lap and proudly said, “Kitty!”

Everyone except for Archie burst out in hysterical laughter. 

“Look at it this way, Arch,” Douxie said between laughs. “It’s better than nothing.”

⦽⦽⦽⦽⦽⦽⦽⦽⦽

Sometime later, after all the games had finished and Gaia’s eyes were beginning to droop, Douxie, Zoe and Blinky decided to do some stargazing. Gaia was curled up and asleep on ARRRGH’s back. Even though he didn’t need to, ARRRGH was asleep, too. 

Zoe looked at the two of them curiously from her spot next to Douxie. He was nearly asleep as well (“Don’t you fall asleep too, Hisirdoux. I am not carrying both of you back.” She’d said. “ ‘M not asleep… yet.”) ARRRGH had always been insistent to keep Gaia, Zoe wondered why.

“They look so perfect together, don’t they?” Blinky asked, albeit a little sadly.

“They do.” Zoe paused but figured she might as well try her luck. “Do you know why he’s so fond of her?”

Blinky sighed. “I’m afraid I do. ARRRGH was… is a troubled troll. He was taken from his home at a young age, you see. During a raid on one of the Kubera villages. The only family he had were Gumm-Gumms and Gunmar. I believe that he wanted to keep Gaia so she could have a family who truly loved her. A family like he never did.”

Zoe let that sink in. She didn’t really understand being separated from her family. They’d always been there for her. But she could understand why ARRRGH would never want that for someone else, even if it was a human.

“Thanks for telling me. I never would’ve guessed.”

“Of course. But I do understand that it is a… touchy subject for ARRRGH. Best not to say anything.” Blinky sighed again and looked towards his partner and… there might have been a better word than daughter, but Blinky couldn’t think of one. Gaia felt like a daughter to him. And she had called him Papa. 

Blinky smiled and looked around. Two trolls, two (possibly three) wizards, a human and a dragon. It was an odd family by many human and troll standards. They could make it work, though. Blinky had faith in that.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow! A chapter that's actually long! Also, thank you to everyone who has read the story so far! We won't actually get into the Tales of Arcadia series until chapter 9, so there's still a bit to wait yet. Comments would be greatly appreciated as I have no idea about what you're actually thinking of the story and I know some of you like it, but that's a bit vague. Thanks again, and I hope you enjoy this chapter, it's one of my favourites.

Once Gaia started talking, it almost seemed as though she wouldn’t stop for anything… except history lessons. The history she learned wasn’t about Ancient Egypt or the Middle Ages. It was about the Arthurian era, Camelot, wizards and trolls.

Every few days ARRRGH or Blinky would come up from Trollmarket and they would tell her stories of ages long since past. Any day that they weren’t telling her about troll lore, Douxie or Zoe would educate her on wizards and the magic of the world. 

Blinky mostly spoke of the trolls’ old home in Europe, ARRRGH recounted the events leading up to the Battle of Killahead. Zoe talked about the evolution of wizard society, but Gaia’s favourite subject, out of all of these was by far languages… Douxie was in charge of that. He taught her how to read and write, speak and listen in all of the magical (and a few human) languages of the world. 

By the time she was three, Gaia was reciting whole volumes of ‘A Brief Recapitulation of Troll Lore’ and she could speak of Deya the Deliverer’s glory at the battle of Killahead. She could greet an elder wizard with great courtesy (and a bit of charisma, too). Gaia could also do all of these things in English, Trollish, Latin, Orcish, Elvish and Greek (she could also read and write in modern Draconic, thanks to Archie). 

Everyone was impressed with Gaia’s development. Even Vendel, who requested to see the child, much to the surprise of her four guardians. They decided that Gaia could go down to see Vendel in the middle of the day and she could come back in the evening. She had many questions on the way to the canals. Douxie tried to answer as many as he could.

“Who’s Ven-doll?”

“He’s the elder of Trollmarket. That’s the place where your Dad and Papa live.”

“I know _that_. Why does he wanna see me?”

“Honestly, I don’t know.” Douxie couldn’t think of one reason why the troll who’d been so adamant on getting rid of Gaia would want to see her after all these years.

They reached the edge of the canals. Douxie picked up Gaia and slid down the side. He kept a firm hold on her as they reached the entrance to Trollmarket. There wasn’t anyone there and the portal wasn’t open.

“What now?” Gaia asked.

“I don’t know. They didn’t give me a key-” As he said that, the portal opened and ARRRGH stepped out.

“Da!” Gaia squirmed in Douxie’s arms, trying to get to ARRRGH. Douxie released his hold on her so she could step onto ARRRGH’s outstretched palm. They bopped noses and he placed her on his back in a now-familiar position.

“Gaia grew since last seen. Is getting bigger fast.” ARRRGH directed his attention to Douxie. “Thank you for bringing Gaia.”

“It’s no trouble. Oh, here.” He handed over Gaia’s _Teen Titans_ themed backpack, ARRRGH passed it to Gaia who put it on. It looked comically big on her small frame, Douxie would have to remember to get a picture of it later. “I’ll see you later, okay?”

“Okay! Bye Douxie, love you.”

“Love you too, Gaia.” With a final nod to ARRRGH, he left knowing Gaia was in good hands.

⦽⦽⦽⦽⦽⦽⦽⦽⦽

Although she may not have realised it then, what was about to happen would be momentous. Even though Gaia had been there as a baby, human feet had never touched the ground of Trollmarket before that day. But she wasn’t walking yet.

The stairs that appeared were beautiful, glowing crystals that led the way deep into the earth. ARRRGH went slowly, careful not to jostle his passenger too much. Gaia took it all in in surprisingly quiet reverence.

As they reached the bottom of the stairs, ARRRGH started talking. “No run away from me or Blinky. Stay with us.”

“Yes, Da.”

Trollmarket was beautiful, with stalls, shops and houses lining every wall as far as the eye could see. Trolls of all shapes, sizes and colours ambled throughout the underground city. Merchants and shoppers haggled for the best price for themselves. Gaia stayed low to her father’s back as they weaved their way through the crowds and into the central plaza. 

Amongst the chaos, the crowds and the uncertainty stood the rock upon which it was all built. The Heartstone. Gaia had read books and seen pictures of various ones around the world. But words, pictures and her own imagination could not compare to the glowing, life-giving beauty of the real thing. It was a vibrant orange, brimming with life. 

Gaia felt her own magic stir within her as she stared at the main source of troll life in Arcadia. The Heartstone was a source of magic in itself, and she was drawn to it, like a moth to a flame. Gaia forgot entirely about staying at least a bit hidden, she was sitting upright of ARRRGH’s back where any troll could see her. 

“A human?”

“Why’s there a human in Trollmarket?”

“Fleshbags don’t belong in Trollmarket! Go back to the surface!”

That comment got the attention of both ARRRGH and Gaia, who tried in vain to hide again. She’d never been the subject of harassment, it was upsetting for a three-year-old. She let out a small whimper.

ARRRGH growled at the onlookers as he took Gaia off his back. “Why matter? She not do anything.”

“Her ancestors tried to kill us!”

“Yeah! How do we know she won’t tell the humans where we live?”

The crowd was getting rowdier and they were blocking any way out. ARRRGH considered jumping over the side to get away, but even if he did make it (very unlikely), Gaia’s fragile human body would not survive the impact.

At that moment like their saviour (or possible condemner) a commanding voice rang out through the crowd, “What is going on here?”

In a flash of blinding light, the crowd parted ways to reveal a troll clad in shiny silver armour, a stern look on his face. He was obviously important, but Gaia couldn't think why. She didn’t recall having ever seen him in any books, and she thought they might’ve mentioned a stern-looking troll with armour.

Another troll leaned in and said something to the stern one. A shocked look crossed his otherwise stern face and he turned sharply towards ARRRGH.

“Is it true? Do you have a human with you?”

ARRRGH looked away, avoiding eye contact with anyone. He nodded and brought his arm out to show Gaia to the stern troll. He looked disgustedly at her, then returned his attention to ARRRGH.

“ARRRGH, wherever you got it from, put-” But he couldn’t finish as a suddenly very indignant three-year-old interrupted him.

“Excuse _you_ , I am not an ‘it’. I am a _she_ and my name is Gaia.” She couldn’t decide whether to cross her arms or put them on her hips, so she settled on balling her fists at her sides. 

The stern troll looked taken aback for a second before regaining his composure. “Well, Gaia, perhaps I should introduce myself. My name is Kanjigar the Courageous. _I_ am the Trollhunter.”

_The wielder of Daylight and Merlin’s Champion,_ Gaia’s mind supplied unhelpfully. Her face paled as she stared at the protector of Trollkind. Kanjigar was suddenly scarier and less stern at the same time. With any luck, she hadn’t offended him too much.

Kanjigar turned his attention to ARRRGH once more. “Why is… she with you?” He said, side-eyeing Gaia.

“Vendel wanted to see.”

“And for what reason would Vendel want to see a fleshbag child?” Kajigar scoffed.

“ _Because_ , Kanjigar, from what I have heard she is a very studious ‘fleshbag child’.” Vendel, with his impeccable timing, addressed ARRRGH and Gaia with a curt nod. “So, this is the whelp that caused a stir three years ago. Come out child, let me see you.”

Gaia stepped off ARRRGH’s hand on shaky legs and nervously approached the elder of Trollmarket. She had to tilt her head back nearly all the way to see his eyes. They were pale orbs that looked as though they were burning into Gaia’s soul. She squirmed under his gaze and startled slightly as he bent down to be closer to her eye level.

“Your father tells me you can speak many languages, is that true?” Vendel asked, not in English or Trollish, but Elvish. 

“Yes sir.” She replied politely, also in Elvish.

“Hm, very well, then. Come with me, both of you.” He addressed Gaia and ARRRGH in English once more. He started walking towards some steps and Gaia dutifully followed. ARRRGH was kept up by Kanjigar.

“I am sorry, ARRRGH. I was out of line, as were many of the trolls here.”

ARRRGH nodded, “Don’t let happen again,” was all he said before lumbering away after Gaia and Vendel. 

⦽⦽⦽⦽⦽⦽⦽⦽⦽

“It’s not that I do not trust human medicine, I simply… don’t trust human medicine. I _do,_ however, trust our associates to take care of Gaia. I wanted to do my own evaluation of her health, though.”

Gaia was sitting on a large stone slab in the middle of the Heartstone. She and Vendel discussed an interesting topic of the similarities and differences between Trollish and Elvish as Vendel poked and prodded her. She stood up, she sat down and by the end was thoroughly confused as to why she just received the equivalent of a doctor's appointment from a troll.

Her Pa looked mildly concerned, but he didn’t seem too worried, so Gaia wasn’t worried either. Her Da had gone to do something somewhere else, so it was just the three of them. Vendel seemed nice if a bit hard of hearing and slightly grouchy. Gaia started to see him as a sort of distant uncle.

Vendel turned back to Gaia with an interested look on his face. “So, you _are_ a magical human. I suspected from the beginning, actually.”

“What? You did? Why didn’t you say anything!” Blinky interrupted indignantly.

Vendel ignored him in favour of listening to Gaia’s answer. “Yeah, I can do magic.”

“Care to demonstrate?” Vendel swept his arm around the room and gave Gaia room to jump off the slab.

She looked at the distance between her legs and the floor. _It’s pretty far…_ Gaia was not a fan of heights and it seemed far too far for her short three-year-old legs. She looked up at Vendel and considered her options. Gaia figured it would do no harm to ask.

She lifted her arms and opened her fists twice.

Vendel looked taken aback for a moment before he copied the gesture back at her, albeit a bit confused.

She frowned at him and tried again, this time using her words. “Lift me down, please.” Vendel finally obliged and lifted Gaia onto the ground. 

Gaia walked to the centre of the chamber and stood with her hands outstretched in front of her, her feet shoulder-width apart. She took two deep breaths and concentrated. The gauntlet on her right wrist began to glow and spell runes circled around it at lightning speed. There weren’t many spells on there then, but Gaia didn’t need anything fancy, just some simple telekinesis. 

Gaia was so focused on her magic that she didn’t notice the Heartstone change colour around her. She focused her attention on a small rock in one of the corners. As she felt it start to lift, Gaia opened her eyes. 

“There! Did you see it?” She asked a little giddily. But Blinky and Vendel weren’t paying attention, they were more focused on the fact that the Heartstone was a shade of mint green, the same shade that enveloped the rock still held in the air by Gaia’s magic. She immediately dropped it and the Heartstone regained its usual orange hue. 

Vendel and Blinky looked at each other, then at Gaia’s shocked expression. “Gaia,” Blinky started slowly as he crouched down to her level, “Do you know how you did that?”

“No! It was an accident, I promise! I was just meant to lift not the rock, not hurt the Heartstone. I’m sorry!” She collapsed into Blikny’s arms, obviously distraught.

“Hurt the Heartstone? Youngling, you barely tickled it.” 

Gaia looked up, surprised at Vendel’s analysis. She sniffed, “Really?”

“Mm, yes. No harm done.” Gaia sighed in relief. “Although,” she stiffened again, “This does raise some… concerning questions.”

“Like..?” Blinky prompted, lifting up Gaia and settling her on his hip.

“Like, Blinkous, if Gaia can do this to the Heartstone while casting a simple telekinesis spell. What else can she do?” He looked pointedly at the fidgeting three-year-old.

Gaia gulped, “Well, there’s this thing I can do, that I haven’t told anyone about yet.” 

“What is it, Gaia?” Blinky hated that she looked so nervous, and she hadn’t told anyone yet. Not even Douxie or Zoe, who were her magic instructors.

She started and paused, then tried again, “I can see… marks. On everyone, humans, trolls, even Kitty has some. I don’t know what they are, but I know no one else can see them.”

Vendel raised his eyebrows at that. It hadn’t been what he was expecting, but it was another ability, nonetheless. “And these marks, only you can see them. What do they look like?”

“They’re different for everyone, but there are some that are the same for two or more people. Trolls actually have some visible marks.” She traced Blinky’s engravings on his face and chest to show her point. “They glow, too. A different colour for everyone.” 

Vendel mulled that over in his head. There was probably a name for this ability somewhere (there was not, but these marks would one come to be known as glyphs, a pattern determining personality, fate, destiny and other things). It was fascinating, that such a small child, a human no less, could possess this kind of power. And they would only grow as she grew. It would be a good thing she had two of the best trainers a young wizard could ask for.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Sorry this update took so long, I'm starting to lose momentum with writing and schools just come back, so this might be it for a while.

Gaia’s hoverboard glided easily down the crystal staircase leading to Trollmarket. It had been the best day of movies, reading and little-to-no work. But there was never much to do on the last day of school.

She thought about all of the reading she could get done over the summer holidays. For Gaia, summer was not about spending time in the sun, but expanding her knowledge and practising new spells. Maybe she could get in some combat training, too. Her Pa and Da refused to teach her how to fight, so Draal was giving her lessons, along with some defensive spells taught by Douxie and Zoe.

Gaia shifted her weight to maneuver around the stony inhabitants of Trollmarket. By now, they were used to seeing a human in their midst, so there wasn’t any panic. There were, however, questions as to why she was there so early.

“Youngling, what are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be at the human institution for learning?” Said a gruff voice from behind her.

“It’s a  _ school,  _ Draal, you know that. And it let us go early. It’s the first day of summer!” Gaia called out cheerily as she made her way deeper into the cavern.  Gaia weaved, ducked and dodged. Trollmarket was a busy place full of trolls constantly on the go. And they could always be doing something, too, since they didn’t need sleep.

“AAAHH, a human- oh. Hello there, Gaia.” Bagdwella often forgot that Gaia became a part-time resident of Trollmarket seven years ago.

“Hey Bagdwella, any more trouble with the gnomes?”

“Not since that little spell you cast. Thank you for that.”

“No problem, let me know if they give you any more trouble.” Bagdwella’s shop often became infested with gnomes. No one knew why, least of all Gaia, but she was happy to help.

She continued down the path, saying hello here and there to anyone and everyone. As she came up to the Forge, Gaia hopped off her hoverboard to catch a glimpse of Kanjigar training. He was one of the greatest Trollhunters to ever live, Gaia wanted to be just like him (except for the pushing away family part). 

_ Lunge, parry, lunge, parry, riposte _ , she mentally catalogued his movements for the day she would use them. Not with a sword, but with a wizard’s staff. It was one of the greatest honours a wizard could have, she planned on getting one, one day. 

Finally, she came up to her destination. Her Pa’s library. It was a massive expanse of knowledge collected over centuries by hundreds of trolls, including her uncle, Dictatious. Gaia always hoped she would meet him one day, so they could debate over small and silly things or serious topics like whether it really was ethical to steal the surface lands from the humans. 

Gaia bounced down the stairs and skipped the last three, landing with a thump on the stone floor. She folded up her board and packed it neatly into her belt-satchel. 

It was nearly an exact replica of Vendel’s, only smaller and better suited to Gaia’s figure. She also wore hers on her left side, so it didn’t restrict her movement. The rest of Gaia’s outfit was simple: black skinny jeans, navy converse threaded with rainbow laces. She wore a black leather jacket over the top of whatever t-shirt she felt like that day and she had glasses that mostly rested on top of her head unless she was reading something up close. Her jacket covered her gauntlet so she could sometimes get away with using magic during school. Gaia kept her hair shoulder length and out or sometimes in a small ‘pouffe’ which rested at the nape of her neck.

Gaia looked around the library for any sign of her parents. Satisfied that she didn’t need to be social until dinner, Gaia walked over to the small cave at the far corner of the large cave. She often called her room ‘cave-ception’ because it was a cave within a cave. She removed her belt and jacket and flopped down on her bed. 

Gaia stared at the glow in the dark stars that had been stuck to the roof of the cave and smiled, thinking about how rarely they glowed. Gaia sighed and stretched, the world was her oyster for the next glorious eleven weeks. 

⦽⦽⦽⦽⦽⦽⦽⦽⦽

Holidays seemed to be over far too soon for Gaia’s liking. It seemed like most of her classmates would have agreed with her, had they not been thoroughly occupied by telling their friends about their holidays. All except one, that was.

He was a small kid, definitely the smallest in the class, with dark hair and glasses that kept sliding down the bridge of his nose. Gaia regarded him curiously, there weren’t a lot of opportunities to see new glyphs. Her class already did their swimming unit, which had been the best opportunity to find out some expected and unexpected things about her classmates. 

Gaia concentrated on the ones she could see on the new kid. He was wearing shorts and a short-sleeved shirt so there were quite a few visible glyphs. She could see his logos (intelligence glyph) it was quite big compared to most of the other students (except for Shannon and Claire), his legs had nearly invisible sport glyphs, which did not surprise Gaia. He had musician glyphs on his fingers, similar to the ones Gaia had, and a glyph on his neck that Gaia had never seen before, but she could guess what it was. Anything else was covered, but she was satisfied with what she knew. Anything else could be asked during lunch.

⦽⦽⦽⦽⦽⦽⦽⦽⦽

Gaia couldn’t find the new kid during lunch. She wasn’t worried, though. He was probably in the library. He seemed like that type of kid. Gaia decided to check to see if he was there. 

On her way to the library, Gaia noticed a group of students crowded around something. She shouldered her way to the front, trying to see who’d gotten in a fight on the first day of school. It was Steve (no surprise) and… the new kid.

Gaia was angry that Steve would pick a fight on the first day back, but with the new kid. Did he even know his name? It didn’t matter, Gaia stepped into the circle, squaring her shoulders and focusing. It wouldn’t help to let her magic get out of control.

Steve was holding him up by the front of his shirt, he laughed cruelly at the new kid. In a commanding voice, Gaia spoke. “Let him go Steve.”

He looked surprised for a second before he smirked. “Aww,” he spoke to the quivering boy in his grasp, instead of Gaia. “Is she your girlfriend? Has she come to save you, Eli?” He taunted.

_ Eli,  _ so that was his name. Gaia took a deep breath and tried again. “I’m still being nice, Steve. Let. Eli. Go” 

She got closer to him, their faces inches apart. He had a solid foot on her, but Gaia was enraged. Slowly, Steve lowered Eli to the ground. “There,” he said, almost sounding sincere… almost. “No harm done.” 

Steve patted Eli’s shoulder. Then he ‘patted’ a bit too hard. Steve shoved and Eli fell on the concrete. Gaia struck Steve with a balled-up fist, hitting him squarely in the jaw. A satisfying crack sounded from it and he landed on the concrete with a thump. A shocked gasp went around the circle, then someone whooped and the crowd erupted in cheers. Several people clapped her on the back and Gaia accepted the praise with a polite nod. But she was more worried about Eli, who was still on the ground. He had a nasty bruise forming on his cheek and a small split in his lip.

Gaia helped him up and took him to the nurse. She knew parents would be called, but she didn’t care. If Gaia explained the situation, she wouldn’t get in trouble. As the nurse finished patching up Eli, he leaned over to Gaia.

“Th- Thank you… ” He said, still a little shaky.

Gaia glanced up from her history homework. “No problem. Name’s Gaia.”

“Gaia,” Eli repeated the name carefully. Hopefully, he wouldn’t mention the etymology of the name or the Greek deity to whom it belonged.

A few minutes later, when the nurse was putting various things away in draws across the room, he leaned in again, his voice squeaked throughout the sentence. “I’m not sure if I saw right, or if it was a concussion or something but uh…” He paused, as though he was considering whether or not to continue. But he bit the bullet and, “Did your wrist… glow… when you punched Steve?” His voice cracked towards the end, not that Gaia really noticed, she only heard the first part.

_ ‘Did your wrist… glow?’... Dammit.  _ She’d given herself away by letting her anger take over. Mentally, Gaia berated herself for being so stupid, but she couldn’t decide whether to lie or… to tell the truth that she’d been sitting on for twelve years.

Gaia bit her lip, weighing her options. On one hand, she barely knew Eli and if he freaked out, she didn’t know any fast-acting amnesia spells. On the other hand, he didn’t seem like he would tell anyone and Gaia desperately wanted to tell someone about herself. About magic and monsters and-

No. Just the magic, that’s all he’d asked about. Gaia looked at Eli and met his eyes. “Yes. Yes, it did. Do you want to know why?” He nodded eagerly. “Because-” Gaia started before cutting herself off. She looked at the nurse, who was busy on a phone call, probably to the principal. She took a deep breath and started again. “Because… I have magic. And this-” She pulled up her sleeve to reveal her gauntlet. “-Helps me channel it.” Gaia stopped to let Eli process the information dump he just received.

While he thought about it, the nurse excused the two of them. As they walked back to class, Gaia pulled Eli into the empty music room.

“Say something, Eli. Please.” Gaia was starting to regret her decision.

He paused, considering. “Does anyone else know?”

“At school? No, you’re the only one… and I’d appreciate it if it stayed that way.”

Eli nodded, “One more question?” He asked tentatively.

“Sure, shoot.” 

“Are your parents magic, too?” 

Gaia flinched and almost went to her automatic response of “Kinda.”, but she stopped. “I… don’t know. My parents kinda are, but I’m adopted. It’s more my cousins who can do magic, though.”

Eli looked a little surprised at that, but he still understood. “Thanks,” he said, “For telling me, the truth, I mean.”

Gaia nodded, “It’s fine. Besides, it’ll be nice to have someone who knows.”

They smiled at each other and Gaia felt as though she’d made a friend. Her first real friend from school, her first human friend.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! My writing speed has slowed down a lot, but I have just gotten my first ever comment thanks to Magical_Moose_Cake. Thank you again for that and thanks for the support and kudos. Thank you also to Darkfire2u who bookmarked this work (though I'm still not sure what that means).
> 
> This chapter marks the beginning of the arc where I try to mix the plot of Trollhunters up with this story, so all feedback is welcome. With that onto the story...

**4 Years Later**

Gaia swiped blindly for the button that would turn off her alarm. Even though she didn’t need as much sleep as the average human, still didn’t mean she liked waking up. She groaned and rolled over, trying to bury herself in the blankets. Gaia knew her efforts were fruitless, once she was up, she wouldn’t go back to sleep. Gaia sighed and swung her legs onto the floor, she pressed the snooze button to silence the annoyingly chipper radio host. It was only 6:30, she could be showered and ready to go by seven. 

Gaia slipped easily into the now-worn leather jacket that fitted like a second skin. She pulled on her shoes and considered herself in the mirror.  _ Up… or down? _ Her hair always got a little ‘untameable’ after she washed it, and it wasn’t supposed to be windy. She left it out. 

At seven-thirty, as she was finishing her breakfast, Douxie emerged from the bedroom, sans a shirt. He looked like the walking dead.

She sent him a look that said,  _ seriously, man? _

He simply sipped his coffee and said, “You know I can’t do anything before eight A.M.”

“And that includes putting on a shirt?” She shot back at him.

“Yep,” he replied, popping the ‘p’. He still looked tired after finishing his first cup. “Anything interesting happening today?”

“Nope, just another boring day of school in this normal town.” 

Douxie chuckled at that while Gaia picked up her school bag to check that she had everything. She felt something cat-shaped wind around her leg and she smiled. 

“Hey, Kitty.” Gaia kept calling Archie that since the first time when she was three and the nickname had stuck.

“Good morning Gaia. Do you know what they’re serving at the cafeteria today?” His tail swished back and forth in anticipation.

“No, but I promise if it’s that horrid chicken surprise you like, I’ll try to sneak some out for you. Honestly, I have no idea how you like that stuff.” Gaia mock-gagged to prove her point.

“I don’t know how you hate it!” He replied.

Gaia heard Douxie mutter something about Archie licking himself. 

“It’s hygienic!” Archie snapped.

Gaia giggled. That argument was a commonly recurring one. She rummaged through her bag to make sure everything was there.  _ Math: check, science: check, Spanish: check, history: not check. _ Her brow furrowed as she thought of where it could be. Gaia had gone to Trollmarket first before coming home, it was probably there.

“Bye, Douxie. I’ll see you tonight,” she called to him in the kitchen.

“Where are you going? It’s only half-past.” He said, albeit a little muffled as he spoke over a mouthful of toast.

“I left my history homework at Trollmarket. If I leave now, I can still make it before the final bell.” She replied, clipping her helmet on and picking up her bag.

“Love you,” she called on her way out the door.

“Love you, too,” Douxie called as the door closed.

It was a race against the clock, but Gaia was confident that her hoverboard was faster than an automated school bell. She kicked off the sidewalk and zoomed past cars that were actually doing the speed limit. Gaia swivelled around a construction site, narrowly avoiding a worker.

“Sorry!” She called as she came upon the treeline of the woods surrounding Arcadia. Gaia grabbed onto trees to swing herself around, a trick she learned a few years ago. 

She stopped the hoverboard at the canals. Gaia knew from experience that the wall would give her too much momentum, so she picked up her board and scaled the side by foot. 

On one side of the bridge over the entrance to Trollmarket, was a pile of rocks. Gaia had never seen a dead troll before that day, so she approached it with caution. She bent down to get a better look at the rocks, that was when she saw it. 

Merlin’s Amulet. The one that belonged to the Trollhunter, to Kanjigar. Gaia dug through the remains, trying to find anything that proved that the pile of rocks was not her best friend’s father. All of the rocks showed the same armour, that should’ve glistened in the sunlight, was now dull as stone.

Gaia sat back as tears stung in her eyes. Kanjigar was dead. That meant a new troll would have to take up the mantle. She hoped it was Draal, he trained his whole life to receive the amulet, he would want to honour his father. He would want to know what happened.

Gaia steady herself and dried her tears. She still had fifteen minutes to get to school, there was time. Shakily, she stood and made her way to the wall under the bridge. Gaia took the horngazel out of her pouch and drew an arch on the wall with it, she pressed her hand against the wall and opened the portal. 

Gaia threw her board on the ground, catching it with the anti-gravity spell before it hit the ground. She descended the crystal staircase and came out into the winding paths of Trollmarket. Everyone went about their business as though everything was normal. Like their Trollhunter hadn’t just died.

She didn’t say anything as she headed towards the library, only offering a polite nod here and there. Gaia didn’t see Draal on her way down, but it was probably for the best, she didn’t want to be the one to tell him about Kanjigar.

As she came up to the library, Gaia picked up her board and went calmly down the steps. She could hear her parents arguing about… something.

“No, ARRRGH. She’ll remember and come to get it.” Blinky said, sounding exasperated.

“What if Gaia forgot?”

She heard Blinky sigh, so she decided to make herself known and end whatever argument they were having. “What did I forget?” she asked.

“Gaia, there you are! See, I told you she wouldn’t forget.” He directed the last part at ARRRGH, who just grumbled and walked over to Gaia.

They bopped noses and Gaia turned towards Blinky. “I think I forgot my history homework here last night, do you have it?”

“Yes. ARRRGH wanted to go and give it to you.  _ I _ knew you would remember.”

Gaia laughed slightly. Her Pa and Da often had arguments about the smallest things, but there was never any heat behind them. “Thanks, Pa,” she said and lightly kissed his cheek. “There’s actually… uhh, something else I need to tell you.”

A look of worry crossed Blinky’s face, “What happened?”

Gaia tried to speak, but nothing came out. More tears stung at the edges of her eyes, she gasped and tried to hold them back. “It’s- It’s K- Kanjigar.” She barely got through the sentence before breaking down in sobs. 

Blinky gathered her into his arms and tried to comfort her. “Shh, it’s ok, my dear. What happened to Kanjigar?” Blinky feared the worst, but he waited for Gaia’s confirmation.

“He's dead!” Gaia cried, trying to get her breathing under control.

Blinky sighed, it was sad, but… “Gaia, you knew this was coming.”

“I know,” she said, still a little shaky, “I just- I didn’t think it would be so soon.”

“Not soon. Kanjigar many centuries old.” ARRRGH said matter-of-factly.

Blinky huffed, “Really, ARRRGH?” ARRRGH simply shrugged in reply.

“No… he’s right, Pa. It’s what happens, especially to a Trollhunter. But Pa, the amulet, it’s sitting out in the sunlight. The next Trollhunter won’t be able to take it until sundown.” And if some random human took it, all hope was lost for their world.

“Very well. I will watch over it until the rightful Trollhunter should come to get it. But Gaia, you mustn’t worry. You should get going, otherwise, I fear you will be late for school.”

She nodded. Pa was right, she definitely wasn’t the Trollhunter, so she didn’t need to worry about whoever was until that night. Gaia had no way of knowing that it would be much sooner than that.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so, so, so, so, so, so sorry. School went back, I procrastinated and I have terrible writer's block. With any luck, my writing pace will pick up again during the holidays.

School went about as normal, or at least, as normal as can be in a town like Arcadia. Gaia started the day with math with Miss Janeth. Then, in third period, she had history… with Mr Strickler.

Gaia hadn’t even needed to see his glyphs to know what he was. His eyes glowed red and yellow, she saw them in their truest form. The first night after she was in his class, Gaia combed through every book she could get her hands on until she found him. 

Waltolomew Stricklander, aka Strickler. He was a changeling who taught history at a high school, and a threat to Trollmarket and humanity. But Gaia never went further than sending him a death glare every once-in-a-while. It wasn’t that she didn’t like changelings. In fact, she found it extremely interesting that it was a witch who created the first changeling (neither Douxie nor Zoe would tell Gaia the name of the mysterious witch, but Gaia would see it in a book one of these days). It was the fact that he interacted so closely with children that unsettled Gaia.

Strickler stood up the front of the class and droned on about the Peloponnesian War. Gaia was fairly certain no one was listening, someone was playing solitaire in a corner, another kid had Minecraft up. There were only five other people actually taking notes. Strickler started walking around the room, causing several students to panic and switch screens.

“… type that into your search engines.” He said. Gaia didn’t have a clue what he was talking about, so she just googled the Peloponnesian war and hoped for the best. She noticed Toby had a… stuffed toy… on his screen. Gaia tried to get a better look at it but he turned his screen away as Strickler approached. 

“Jim, would you agree?” Strickler obviously knew that Jim had been distracted.

“Sir?”

“With Herodotus’ opinion on his tactics of war as I’ve described.”

“Oh, uhh,” Jim looked to Toby, who pointedly looked away. “Absolutely.”

“Excellent. Which tactics, specifically?” 

“The uhh, winning ones?” Gaia laughed along with the rest of the class. He seemed like a bit of a goody-two-shoes to Gaia, but Jim could still make a good joke.

“Alright, alright. Don’t forget, Michaelson, chapters four and five. Jim, may I have a word?” Gaia’s ears pricked up at that. Strickler wouldn’t harm a student in school, but it would still be a good idea to look out for her classmates. Gaia stayed near the door to listen.

“Jim, you’re distracted. You fell asleep between the invasion of Attica and…”  Gaia snorted. Jim had always been a favourite of Strickler. She had no idea why. As long as he was only giving advice to students, there was no harm in it. 

⦽⦽⦽ ⦽⦽⦽ ⦽⦽⦽

The rest of the day passed without event. Gaia had a spare in the last period, which was spent in the library. She really did not enjoy math and they always got homework for it. Gaia liked to get all the boring or hard homework out of the way during spares so she could relax at home. 

The math was harder than she anticipated so Gaia was held back by a few minutes. She considered texting Eli to let him know she was going to be late, but she figured he’d just go home if she was late.

Once Gaia was out in the courtyard, she knew something was wrong. There was a group of kids crowded around some lockers, and Gaia had a pretty good idea of the people in the middle. Gaia made her way to the front of the circle, the students all knew her and Eli were friends, so it wasn’t hard. 

She got to the front as Eli said, “... Massive horns and skin like stone!” Steve just laughed at him, probably thinking Eli was crazy.

_ Oh, if only he knew _ , Gaia thought to herself, preparing to step in when she heard from behind her:

“Hey, Steve, why don’t you leave Eli alone?”

Surprised, Gaia turned around to see Jim walking towards Steve and his friends, shoulders squared. Toby had an alarmed and regretful look on his face, he had probably tried to stop his friend from going to face Steve.

“What did you say to me, Lake?’ Steve replied, he even glanced at Gaia, surprised that she wasn’t the one defending Eli.

“I said, why don’t you leave him alone?”

“Why are you defending him? I’d expect that from her,” He jerked his head in Gaia’s direction. “But not you. Is he your  _ boyfriend _ , Lake?” Steve smirked, thinking he’d won, but Gaia had the perfect taunt lined up for that comment.

“What,” she called, getting Steve’s attention, “Are you jealous, Steve?”

His face turned a bright shade of red for a split second as he stuttered through several words, “Me, jealous of Lake? No way!” he exclaimed before lifting Jim off the ground by the front of his shirt. “Was this something you planned, huh?” He lifted his fist, ready to throw a punch.

“Fine, go ahead, hit me,” Jim said, surprisingly calm for a guy about to get beaten up. “But just remember that in twenty years, you’ll be fat and lazy and bald, and Eli will have a great career in software engineering and he’ll be a billionaire!” 

Steve levelled his fist with Jim’s face and prepared to strike when someone started a chant, “Let him out! Let him out!” The students rallied against Steve and his resolve began to waver.

“Palchuck! What’s going on out here?” Coach disrupted the chant.

Steve put Jim back on the ground, “Oh, uhh nothing, sir. I was just helping Eli here,” he opened the locker, “he was stuck.” Eli gave a little wave.

“Get to practice, on the double. Now!”

Steve leaned in to tell Jim something. Gaia couldn’t hear what he said, but she could only guess that it wouldn’t end well for Jim, whatever it was.

Once the crowd dispersed, Gaia went up to locker Eli was stuffed in and opened it. He smiled shakily at her and unfolded his legs from the confines of his prison.

“Sorry I wasn’t here earlier, Eli. I got caught up in the library.” She rubbed the back of her neck.

“It’s okay. I was talking to someone else about what I saw, then Steve came up and…” They started walking towards the park outside the museum, they would part ways from there.

“Yeah… about that, what  _ did  _ you see last night? Another goblin or..?” Since their friendship had started four years ago, Gaia had slowly introduced Eli to some of the magical beings one could find in Arcadia. He had a small logbook that he kept like a birdwatchers journal.

“No! I swear this time, it wasn’t a goblin, gnome or even a- a whatchamacallit.”

“A quagawump? Yeah, it wouldn’t have been one of those.” Gaia sighed, she tried to hold off telling Eli about trolls for as long as possible. Apparently, four years was the best she could do. “Eli, what you saw would’ve been… a troll. It’s not the same as goblin or gnome. But quagawumps are a subspecies of a troll. That’s all I’m telling you, though.” She finished by looking him in the eye until he nodded in understanding. They’d had a few conversations like this one over the years, but trolls were a bit too close to home.

“Okay, I understand. Thanks, CG.”

“No problem, Les.”

⦽⦽⦽⦽⦽⦽⦽⦽⦽

Gaia was staying at Trollmarket that night, so after she said goodbye to Eli, she headed for the canals. Gaia was sick to her stomach (and nearly physically sick) to see Kanjigar’s remains still lying at the bottom of the canal.  _ Of course, they haven’t gotten them yet _ , Gaia scolded herself as she slid down the canal wall,  _ there’s still sunlight on it. _

Gaia didn’t get too close, but from what she could see, the amulet had been taken. Hopefully by its rightful owner. She circled around and went through the portal into Trollmarket.

Trolls continued about their business but in a considerably worse mood. Gaia assumed it was because of Kanjigar, or maybe they didn’t like the new Trollhunter. She wasn't exactly wrong.

Gaia decided to check the bar instead of the library first. Her parents might not have been there, but Draal probably was. Gaia saw him at a table towards the back of the room.

“Hey, Draal.” She lifted herself onto the table to be at eye level with him. He just glanced at her. “How are you holding up?” she asked, then, “Is… is it you?”

Draal growled at that and slammed his glass on the table. “No! The amulet has not chosen me to be my father’s successor.”

Gaia had assumed this from the lack of amulet at Kanjigar’s remains… which were still in sunlight. “Then… do you know who?” Gaia knew there were only two other options for whoever could have taken it, but they were both extremely unlikely.

“According to your  _ father _ , it was a  _ human _ whelp who picked it up!” he said. “Uhh… no offence.” He said as an afterthought.

“I’m still taking offence to that. But Draal, are you sure?” She grabbed one of his significantly larger hands in both of hers.

“Ask your father, he’s the one who supposedly saw it.” Gaia raised her eyebrows expectantly. “Oh, uhh, Blinky.” She smiled and nodded.

“For the record, Draal,” she said as she hopped down from the table, “I think you would’ve been a way better Trollhunter than some random human.”

“And I feel the same, youngling. At least you understand the way of Trollkind.”

Gaia offered a reassuring smile before she left. As she came upon the library, Gaia decided to play it dumb, like she didn’t know who the Trollhunter was. Hopefully, her Pa would be honest with her. She took the steps one by one and entered the library to see Blinky running back and forth between piles of books, her Da watching on with a placid expression. 

“Where is it? Where is it? Surely I have a book about it somewhere!” He held a book open in each of his hands, trying to read them all simultaneously.

“Hi, Da. What’s got him in such a fuss?” Gaia walked over to ARRRGH and sat down next to him.

“Don’t know. Been like this all day.”

“Ahh Gaia, there you are!” Blinky finally noticed her sitting there. “Could you help me, dear? I’m trying to find a book about the Amulet of Daylight.”

“Sure, what for?”

“I’m curious as to  _ who  _ exactly can inherit the honour of being the Trollhunter. Can it be a changeling, a storkling or even a human?” He started going into his ‘conspiracy voice’ by the end.

Gaia laughed. “A human Trollhunter? That’s a really good one, Pa.”

Blinky laughed, albeit a little more nervously than Gaia. “Yes, well. What if, and this is just speculation, but what if I had reason to believe that oneofyourclassamtes _ might  _ be the Trollhunter?” he said almost too quickly for Gaia to hear him. Almost.

“WHAT?! Wait, do you know that’s what you saw? Are you one hundred percent certain?” Gaia figured Blinky must have seen wrong or-

“Oh, I am. I saw it with my own six eyes.” 

Gaia sighed. “Okay, then. We have to find them. Who is the Trollhunter?”

“I believe his name is Jim Lake Jr.”

Gaia facepalmed. Of  _ course, _ Jim was stupid enough to go and himself tangled up in the magical world. Gaia wondered if he even knew what the amulet could do. “Alright, I guess we have to find him, then. Piece of cake.”

⦽⦽⦽⦽⦽⦽⦽⦽⦽

It wasn’t too hard to find Jim’s house. What  _ was  _ hard was sneaking in two fully grown trolls without the occupants of the house noticing. Thankfully, Jim’s mum had left the back door open, giving them an easy way inside and down into the basement while she was upstairs. Mrs (Dr?) Lake left about fifteen minutes later. Jim got home not too long after that.

Gaia heard him walk to about where she thought the living room would be and he stopped. Another voice sounded through the house that probably came from the TV. Gaia listened through a pipe that led up, she didn’t notice her Da moving around. 

She listened to Jim talk to someone, the amulet? Maybe. He said something about putting it up on eBay when Gaia heard a crash from behind her. She whipped around to see ARRRGH picking up a fallen shovel.

“Seriously?” she hissed at him. He only shrugged back. She put her ear back to the pipe and heard footsteps, “He’s coming, hide!”

The door opened, flooding the basement with light and Gaia held her breath. She saw Blinky hide just as Jim came down the steps. He clicked on the light and held the broom out in front of him.  _ Like a sword _ , she noted. Jim went up to a mirror and screamed when he saw his reflection move, Gaia barely restrained herself from snorting.

Then, the light went out and Gaia jumped along with Jim. She saw her Pa come up behind the Trollhunter and made a cutting gesture across her neck to signal  _ “No! Don’t do that!”  _ but Blinky was more interested in talking to Jim. He raised his arms in a way that would’ve looked threatening had Gaia not known what was about to happen.

“No, no, no, no.”

“Master Jim!”

“Aaahhh!” Jim fell backwards and started scooting away from Blinky until he had to stop as he hit a pipe.

“Master Jim!” Blinky said again, as though it would help to be said a second time. Jim yelped again and blocked his face with his arm. “We have found you!”

ARRRGH started moving from the hiding spot, Gaia tried, in vain to stop him. 

“I am known as Blinky.” 

Jim kept moving away from Blinky, but he looked up to see another troll, this time it was ARRRGH. “Hi,” Jim screamed yet again, “It’s ARRRGH. Three Rs.” Jim was standing up again, running between the two trolls.

Gaia sighed,  _ I guess I should say hi _ .

Jim fell onto his knees as ARRRGH and Blinky crowded over him. “Hmm, he says AAHH, a lot.”

“It’s more of a yelp, I believe. A greeting, perhaps.” Gaia couldn’t tell whether Blinky was joking or not, but she figured it was a good time to step in before her parents started yelling at the already terrified Jim.

“ _ Pa _ , you know it’s not a greeting.” Gaia stood in front of Jim, who looked up, surprised to hear a familiar voice.

“G- Gaia?” He was confused as she helped him up.

“Yep. That’s my name. Sorry about them, they’re just excited, is all.”

“Right… and, who  _ are  _ they?”

“Trolls,” she said simply and turned Jim around to face them once more.

“Thank you for that, Gaia. Now, where was I?”

“Uh, “Master Jim… found you…” ARRRGH supplied, lifting a finger as he covered each point.

“Yes. Thank you, dear. Master Jim, you have been chosen.” Blinky said, raising his arms. Gaia put a hand on Jim’s shoulder, hoping to steady him. “The Amulet of Daylight challenges you to ascend to the most sacred of offices.”

“Orifices? What Orifices?” ARRRGH asked, confused.

“Like a responsibility, Da.” Gaia offered.

‘Yes, exactly. Ahem, unbeknownst to your kind, there is a secret world, a vast civilization of trolls lurking beneath your very feet, hidden from view.”

“Tro… tr- trolls?” Jim asked, unsure of what to say.

“Trolls. Yes, trolls. And it is now your charge to protect them. For you, Master Jim, are the Trollhunter!”

Jim did not seem very enthusiastic about this as ARRRGH said, “Trollhunter.” again.

“This honour is yours to accept. So, what say you?” Gaia looked at Jim’s pailing face and only had a split second to react before he fell to the floor, unconscious.

“Is that a yes?” ARRRGH asked.

“Probably not,” Gaia said. “Da, can you help me move him somewhere less-” she stomped her foot, “-uhh, stony?”

⦽⦽⦽⦽⦽⦽⦽⦽⦽

The next day at school, Gaia tried to avoid Jim. After their little… encounter the previous night, she assumed he’d want some space. She was wrong. Jim cornered her in the hall just before lunch.

“What happened last night? And don’t tell me nothing, I know what I saw.”

“Have you told anyone?” Gaia replied with her own question.

“What?” He didn’t understand why she would be worried about that.

“Have. You. Told. Anyone?”

“Well, yeah, I went to Mr Strickler, but I didn’t tell him exactly what happened.” Gaia wasn’t satisfied with that answer, though. “And… I told Toby, but not everything… yet.”

_ Great _ , of course, Jim would tell Strickler, the one person he could absolutely  _ not _ trust with that information. “Okay. And about your question, like I’m gonna tell you here. Meet me at your house after school.” With that, she left.

But not before Jim called after her, “Do you even know where my house is?” She replied by waving at him.

⦽⦽ ⦽⦽⦽⦽⦽⦽⦽

Jim would be a great swordsman, once he started using a sword, of course. His knife skills were impeccable and while Gaia could appreciate well-cut tomatoes and onions, a knife was barely a needle compared to Daylight. All this, Jim would figure out with time. Gaia watched his movements carefully as he sliced and diced vegetables for a pretty good-looking sandwich. 

“Are you sure you don’t want anything?” He asked for the umpteenth time since she arrived. 

She sighed, “No Jim, I already said I don’t need anything.”

“Okay, then.” He finished slicing the tomatoes, throwing the knife back into the knife block with carefully practised aim. Once the sandwiches were completed, he bagged them up and put them in the fridge.

“You know,” Gaia said, amused at her own thought, “I’m surprised you haven’t taken at least two of your fingers off with the way you cut things.”

“What can I say? Practice makes perfect. And I’ve had a lot of practice.”

The amulet, still in Jim’s bag, began to glow. Gaia smiled, “It’s time. Come on.”

A confused look crossed Jim’s face, but he picked up his bag and followed Gaia outside. He took the amulet out of the bag and regarded it curiously. Jim held it up so both of them could see. Gaia was about to ask if he could read Trollish when the words lit up and spun around the amulet, changing languages until they came to rest in English.

Jim squinted at the words and turned around to see Gaia, standing a few feet back now. She nodded encouragingly. He took a deep breath… 

“‘For the glory of Merlin, Daylight is mine to command.’” He said carefully, turning the amulet to see the phrase

For a moment, nothing happened, then a small blue light appeared and circled around Jim as a wind began to blow. More orbs appeared and he began to lift off the ground. The armour appeared around him in midair, then came together as he fell back down. It was several sizes too big. Jim gave a small yell and the armour began to shrink to fit him.

“This is so. Freaking. Cool!” He exclaimed. Gaia laughed. She obviously hadn’t been there, but she liked to think that Kanjigar had been this dorky, or possibly more so, when he first received the armour.

More orbs came out of the amulet as Gaia came to stand beside Jim. Daylight appeared in his hand, it then shrunk down to a more suitable size for his small human hands. 

“Congratulations, Trollhunter. You’ve just summoned Daylight.”

They smiled at each other, “You won’t judge, will you?” He asked. Gaia shook her head.

Jim struck a few poses with the sword. Twirling it like he was already a master. He lifted it above his head, but it went back too much and got stuck in a stone.

“Well,” Gaia said as Jim struggled to get the sword back, “It’s not Excalibur, but it’s still a ‘sword in the stone’.”

He tumbled back a few times before finally getting out of the stone… only to get it stuck in another one. Gaia laughed.

“Can’t you help me?” Jim asked.

“Nope! Only the Trollhunter can wield Daylight, I’d be no help either way.”

Jim huffed. After several minutes of struggling, he managed to get it free. Jim held the sword up and looked along its blade.  _ Maybe a human Trollhunter won’t be so bad, _ Gaia thought to herself. Jim was a good guy, and after all, Merlin's Amulet never got it wrong.


	10. Chapter 10

The next night saw Gaia at Jim’s house again, this time Toby was there too. Gaia was expecting company relatively soon but she hadn’t told the other two that. She simply watched on and sipped on an apple juice box as Jim freaked out over Toby’s numerous visits to the dentist.

“Eight hours! I can’t believe it takes  _ eight hours _ .” He exclaimed.

“Two molars, plus insertions, and some cleanup,” Toby said, counting it on his fingers.

“That does seem a  _ bit  _ extensive,” Gaia said, Toby shrugged.

“Okay, Tobes. You are  _ never _ going to believe this.” Jim had been looking forward to this moment all day.

“My mouth still feels sore.” He complained.

“Check this out.” He ignored Toby.

“Do you have any aspirin?” They were  _ both  _ ignoring each other.

“Tobes, pay attention,” Jim said, a little exasperated.

“Mmm.” But Toby wasn’t paying attention, he was using a box of pizza as an icepack. He put some in the microwave and turned it on.

Jim took out his amulet, “For the glory of Merlin, Daylight is mine to-” The beeping of the microwave cut him off just before he was about to finish the phrase. 

“Go on,” Toby said, oblivious to what he’d just interrupted.

“It worked last night.”

Gaia rolled her eyes, “That’s because you didn’t finish the incantation  _ genius _ .”

“Are you two punking me right now? And also,” Toby said, directing his attention to Gaia, “Since when are you and Jimbo friends?”

“We’re not,” Jim and Gaia replied at the same time. They looked at each other, then Jim went back to fiddling with the amulet and Gaia focused on her juice.

“There,” Jim said. “I think I got it.” He took a deep breath, “For the glory of Merlin, Daylight is mine to command!” Some loose objects nearby began to float, including Toby’s pizza and Gaia’s juice, which was promptly grabbed.

“Holy champignon!” Gaia wondered if Toby even knew what a  _ champignon  _ was.

Jim landed with a thump back on the floor, now clad in shiny silver armour. “Oh-ho-ho-ho! How cool is that?”

While Jim and Toby geeked out over Jim’s armour, Gaia watched the clock… they would be arriving any minute.

“You have to use these powers for the benefit of all mankind! You have to use this…” Toby looked as though he was plotting something, “To kick Steve’s butt.” 

“... Really? I show you a glowing sword and suit of armour that can only be magic, and that’s how you respond?”

“Absolutely, the Daylight armour and Daylight  _ itself  _ should not be used for something as silly as a- a teenage high school brawl.” Gaia was shocked that anyone would suggest  _ that _ as a way to use the armour.

“I’m just saying that this way, Jim won’t totally die when he fights Steve! Seriously! It’s butt-kicking time!” Toby attempted (very poorly) to do a karate kick. “These pants are so elastic,” he said, then, “Wait, who’s ‘they’?”

“That’s the part I’ve been freaking out over! Two nights ago, she,” he pointed at Gaia, “and her- her-” A knock at the back door interrupted Jim.

_ Right on time _ , Gaia thought as she went to open the door. Blinky looked in, much to the horror of Toby. 

“Wh- Wha… What is that! What are you DOING?! Don’t let it in!” Toby scrambled behind the kitchen counter.

Gaia ignored him and opened the door, beaming when she saw her Da and Pa there.

“Aha! Master Jim! Hello, dear.” He said to Gaia. They rested their foreheads together and Blinky came into the kitchen.

“Ah! I’m calling 911!” Toby was still freaking out.

ARRRGH tried to get through the door, Gaia cast a small spell to make the wood flexible for a short amount of time. It worked perfectly.

“No, animal control. Oh gosh, oh gosh, oh gosh. They talk.”

“I knew it was but a matter of time before the amulet called to us,” Blinky said to Jim.

“‘Called’ to you?” Jim didn’t think the amulet could call to them.

“Actually, no. We’ve been spying on you.” Blinky said matter of factly.

“Spy on you,” ARRRGH said, looking around curiously.

“Well, keeping a close watch.”

Behind her, Gaia could hear Toby on the phone to… Animal Control? 

“Animal control hung up on me!” Gaia was right, that was so rude of Toby!

“You told your stout little friend about us?” Blinky looked at Jim, slightly alarmed.

“Um, is that a problem?” Jim was obviously concerned for his friend.

“Master Jim, we trolls have gone to great lengths to keep our existence secret from your kind, lest there be panic.” 

“Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh.” Hopefully, Toby wasn’t asthmatic, he was quickly running out of air.

“Much like that,” Blinky noted.

“Wait, if you’ve tried to keep yourselves secret from humans, what about Gaia?” Jim tilted his head in her direction.

“I’m a… special case. Also, I’m not entirely human. Or at least, we don’t  _ think  _ I am.” Jim did not look reassured by this, neither did Toby, who was still freaking out over the trolls. 

“They’re like nine feet tall.”

“It’s alright, Tobes. Oh- This is my best friend, Toby D.”

“He has like 800 eyes. We’re going to die.” Toby seemed better if a little dazed.

“Hardly. Your friend is the Trollhunter. His noble obligation is protective.”

Toby narrowed his eyes. “By ‘protecting’... you mean like a superhero? Oh, can I be his sidekick? With a cool superhero name like Deathblade or Snipersnake? Just wait. Who would he be protecting?” His eyes grew wider with each idea, then narrowed again at the end.

“Us,” ARRRGH said shortly.

“And mankind from bad trolls… as well as goblins, gruesomes and the occasional rogue gnome.” He made a so-so gesture with two of his hands. Toby began tapping various parts of Blinky’s face with a spoon. “Do you mind?” He snapped at Toby. He dropped the spoon, probably more out of fear than general decency.

“The mantle of the Trollhunter has continued for centuries, since the age of Merlin. This honour has never been given to a human, though, so this is a pretty momentous occasion.” Gaia decided to add her bit to the conversation.

The distinct sound of an engine and car horn sent them all into a mild panic. 

“It’s my mother!" Jim yelled, "Upstairs, quick!” 

They all thumped up the stairs, Jim taking up the rear. Toby went into the first door he saw, the bathroom. Jim locked the door once they were all inside. ARRRGH went back too far and bumped into the wall.

“Jim?” A feminine voice called from downstairs. “It’s me!”

“She’s not supposed to be home ‘till midnight.” He whispered just loud enough for Gaia to hear him.

ARRRGH sniffed Toby, “Mmm… you smell like cat.” He said.

Toby laughed nervously, “My nana has a Siamese.”

“Tasty.”

“Those are his favourite,” Gaia explained when she saw Toby shooting her A Look. She was looking through her spells to see if there was one that could serve as a good distraction whilst also being inconspicuous in terms of magic. Gaia decided against it as anything she cast would be mint-green in colour.

“I forgot my phone. Are you okay in there?” Jim’s mum was right outside the door now.

“Um, I'm fine. I mean, my stomach's a little, uh.” Toby started plumbing the toilet, probably in the hope that Mrs- or was it Dr? Whatever, so Jim’s mum would leave. “Uh, you know, I might have a food poisoning situation.” Jim said after giving Toby a ‘What are you doing?’ look.

“Honey, I’ll get you some medicine, okay?”

The amulet began to glow in a rhythm. Toby clicked the light off, then back on again to see it in the dark. “Okay, what’s going on here?” Jim asked, a little concerned.

“The amulet reacts to your emotional state. You appear to be in some distress.” ARRRGH turned the light on and off before having his hand batted away by Toby

Gaia rolled her eyes as Jim quipped back, “You think?”

“I have a question.” Toby piped up from the back.

“Speak, Theodore.”

“It’s Toby, actually. Or Tobias. If Jim’s the first human Trollhunter, like you said,” he pointed to Gaia, “Then who or what was the Trollhunter before him.”

“Only certain types of trolls can become the Trollhunter. It’s been that way for centuries.” Gaia replied, trying to keep her voice low.

“So, the previous Trollhunter, what, retired?” Jim asked hopefully.

“I wish…” muttered Gaia as ARRRGH replied more directly to Jim.

“Was felled.” He said sadly.

“Felled?”

“Means killed.”

“Turned to stone and smashed.” Blinky aided that statement by punching his fist into his top hand. “Kanjigar the Courageous was his name. Brutally slain by a ruthless troll named Bular.”

“Don't worry, dude. This Bular guy probably just got lucky!” Toby encouraged his friend.

“The evidence does not suggest that. Bular is a formidable opponent.” Blinky said regretfully.

“Then the other guy, he was just off his game or something, right?” Jim was starting to go that shade of pale white he turned before he passed out. 

Gaia snorted, offended on Kanjigar’s behalf, “No way, Kanjigar was one of the best, most experienced Trollhunters to ever live.”

“But not  _ the  _ best, I'm betting.” Toby was also starting to sound unsure.

“Oh, the very best. Many songs and sagas have been written about him.” Blinky was not catching onto the fact that Jim and Toby were both quite worried.

“Uh, I think what my friend here is a little worried about is, if this-”

“Bular.” ARRRGH supplied, cleaning his nose with the toilet brush.

“Yeah, I got it.” He paused, then continued, “If Bular could defeat Kanjigar…” He trailed off.

“Smash to pieces.” ARRRGH cut in again, this time, he sucked on the brush. Gaia grimaced,  _ gross. _

“Then what’s going to happen to Jim?” He really did look scared for his friend, Gaia felt sorry for him. She partly understood then, why Kanjigar had pushed his only remaining family away.

“A most appropriate, if troubling, query, Tom- Tobias!” He quickly switched names at Toby’s look. “Of course, we would never expect Master Jim to engage in battle without the proper training,” Blinky replied.

“See! Nothing to worry about. Now how long does the training normally take?” Toby made a rolling sort of gesture with his hands.

“Oh…” Blinky counted on his fingers, “Decades.” He determined.

“And… how long do I have?” It was starting to sound worse and worse for Jim.

“A day or two.” Jim’s face fell at that.

“Jim?” His mum interrupted the important conversation. “I have medicine and ginger ale. Come on out!”

“I’m fine, really!” He called back, looking around for a place to hide the other bathroom occupants.

“I’m a doctor. I’m gonna treat my own son.”  _ Oh,  _ so she  _ was  _ a doctor.

“I just… need a little privacy!” He said, piling them all into the shower and quickly drawing the curtain.

“You’re worrying me!”

Jim managed to deactivate the amulet before his mum said, “I’m coming in.”

He opened the door so she wouldn’t have to force it open. “Whew. See, all good!” Jim said, waving his hand in front of his face and walking out.

In the shower, Gaia was perched on ARRRGH’s back, while he, Toby and Blinky squished in together to fit.

“Stop sniffing me, giant troll dude!” Toby hissed at ARRRGH.

“Smell like cat.”

Once Dr Lake had left, they all went downstairs again. ARRRGH walked around, knocking things over as he went. “Your cave too small.” He said after hitting his head on a lower part of the ceiling. 

“Are you ready Master Jim? We should begin your training immediately.” Blinky said to Jim as he picked up the things that ARRRGH had knocked over.

“Uhh, I shouldn’t. It’s a school night.” Jim said, almost apologetically.

“I assure you the relevance escapes me.” Blinky wasn’t sure why it was a problem that Jim had school the next 

“I’m fifteen. I have to stay home and study, and stuff- do homework? I can’t be out y’know, Trollhunting?” Jim began putting things back on the table from where they’d been knocked off by ARRRGH.

Blinky still had no idea why Jim wasn’t jumping at the opportunity he’d been given “... Because?” He prompted.

“Well, the whole getting killed by a vicious troll named Bular might be a deal-breaker!” Jim was getting frustrated.

“Dude,” Toby said from his spot beside ARRRGH and Gaia, “He eats VHS’s!”

“Da, that’s rude… probably.” Gaia had no idea.

“Deal breaker?” Blinky asked.

Jim practically yelled at Blinky, “I don’t want to die!”

“Then you won’t die,” Gaia interrupted. “At our age, our fates aren’t set in stone. If you don’t want to die now, and you believe that, then you. Won’t. Die.” 

“And how do you know that, huh?”

“... Remember that swimming unit we had in primary school? Well, I have this special ability we call ‘Glyph Sight’. During that unit, I was able to see a lot of people’s glyphs. I’ve seen the one that’s tied to your fate, and your destiny. Your destiny glyph never changed, but your fate glyph… it always changed. The only consistent thing with it was that you  _ don’t  _ die in the near future. It’s not Trollhunting that’ll kill you, probably just natural causes.” Gaia always ignored that fact that his fate glyph stopped and started again, which indicated rebirth.

After a minute, Blinky spoke up again. “Master Jim, you are now responsible for the protection of two worlds, the human and troll alike. If you do not keep the balance, evil trolls like Bular will come into yours and wreak havoc!”

“So you’re saying this… Bular could hurt people?” Jim asked. 

“Like you,” ARRRG said, still munching on VHS tapes.

“Not helping!” Blinky shot back through gritted teeth.

Jim looked between the two of them, worried, “What’s he talking about?”

Blinky sighed, “With the amulet now in your possession, Bular  _ will  _ seek you out and you will face him, one way or another.”

Jim did not look too pleased with this information. Toby stepped in, “I think what Jim needs is some time to process this. Y’know, you guys laid a lot of heavy stuff on him tonight.”

“Fine, fine,” Blinky conceded, “We shall return tomorrow then, to begin your training!”

“Awesome-sauce!”

They all moved back to the kitchen. Gaia cast the same spell on the door to make it easier for ARRRGH to get out again. 

“Woah. Heh, for the road big guy.” He said to ARRRGH.

“VHS!”

“Moral weapons five and six.” He said, throwing them each into ARRRGH’s mouth. He lumbered over to the door and managed to squeeze through before the spell wore off.

“Master Jim, if I may... destiny is a gift. Some go their entire lives living existences in quiet desperation, never learning the truth that what feels as though a burden pushing down upon our shoulders is actually a sense of purpose that lifts us to greater heights! Never forget that fear is but the precursor to valour. That to strive and triumph in the face of fear, is what it means to be a hero. Don't think Master Jim... become!” Blinky paused, “Would you at least consider?” Gaia smiled, she’d heard her Pa quote that speech many times before, but this was different. This was a plea, a cry for help. But she chuckled as Jim fist-bumped all of Blinky’s hands.

The three of them went to the back fence, ARRRGH ungracefully falling over it, then grabbing Blinky and pulling him over. Gaia winced and pushed herself over instead, landing neatly on both feet. She turned and waved back at Jim and Toby before following her dads home.

⦽⦽⦽ ⦽⦽⦽ ⦽⦽⦽

Thankfully, Gaia didn’t run into Jim or Toby the next day until the very end of the auditions for  _ Romeo & Juliet.  _ Gaia had only been there to watch Eli’s audition. He was pretty good, if a bit squeaky, but that was typical Eli.

Five minutes before auditions ended, and halfway through Claire’s audition, Gaia spotted something shining backstage. It was the Daylight armour. 

“I’ll be back in a sec.” She whispered to Eli and went backstage.

Gaia saw Jim and Toby standing there. Jim was fawning over Claire, Gaia rolled her eyes. She’d gotten over that crush years ago. She walked up to the two of them and tapped on Jim’s armour.

“Nice costume.” She said sarcastically.

“Heh, thanks. I have no idea why it activated.”

“Probably because your subconscious saw something it knows is threatening. You control the amulet, but your subconscious controls you.”

“What are you doing here, Gaia? I didn’t know you liked theatre.” Toby asked out of seemingly genuine curiosity.

“I  _ don’t.  _ I’m here because Eli auditioned. I’m an instrumentalist, not an actor.” Gaia bit her tongue as the words left her mouth, only Eli and her family knew that.

“That’s so cool! What do you play?” Jim asked.

“Uhh, I play… flute.” 

“Nice.”

They all turned their attention to the stage as Claire finished. “Give me my Romeo; and when he shall die, Take him and cut him out in little stars, And he will make the face of heaven so fine That all the world will be in love with night.” The small number of gathered students applauded, it was probably the loudest they’d clapped that day. Claire had always had a knack for capturing audiences, like her mother. 

Claire walked off stage and met them in the curtains. “John?”

“Uh, Jim.”

She smiled, “And here I thought you didn’t like Shakespeare.”

Jim laughed nervously, “Oh no, he’s my favourite! I totally love him!”

“That costume is incredible! Did you make it?” 

“No, he found a magical amulet that- OW!” Toby didn’t finish as Gaia stomped on his foot.

“Heh, you’re funny.” Claire had obviously heard enough to get the gist of the ‘joke’.

Jim gritted his teeth and hissed at Toby, “Yeah, you’re a real  _ comedian,  _ aren’t cha?”

“Next!” Miss Janeth’s shrill voice echoed through the auditorium.

“Good luck, Jim,” Gaia said and made her way back to her seat next to Eli.

He gave her a ‘ _ What happened? _ ’ look, and Gaia shrugged. “It’s nothing, but this audition  _ will  _ be good.” She almost wished she had some popcorn.

“Who are you?” Miss Janeth asked Jim.

“James Lake Jr.” It came out sounding more like a question than an answer.

“What part are you trying out for?”

“Uhh, Romeo?”

“Well then, we are all ears.”

Jim looked similar to a deer in headlights. “Destiny,” He began, then paused. He took a deep breath and started again. “Destiny is a gift. Some go their entire lives living existences in quiet desperation, never learning the truth that what feels as though a burden pushing down upon our shoulders is actually a sense of purpose that lifts us to greater heights!” He removed Daylight from his back and pointed it at the audience. “Never forget that fear is but the precursor to valour! That to strive and triumph in the face of fear, is what it means to be a hero! Don't think,” Jim sliced the sword through the air, then he resheathed it on his back, “Become.”

There was silence, then the crowd erupted in applause once more. “Um, thank you!” Jim waved as he walked off stage, he looked a little dazed.

“I’ll see you tomorrow Eli, okay?” Gaia said. She could go back to Jim’s house with him and Toby since she would be meeting them there anyway.

“Okay, see you tomorrow, Gaia!” Eli waved at her as she left, she waved back.

“Hey guys,” she went up to Jim and Toby once they were outside, “Mind if I head home with you?”

“Sure, do you need to ride on one of our bikes or..?” Jim wasn’t sure if she had some other mode of transportation to get around.

“Nah, I got it covered.” She said, taking out her board and helmet from her belt-satchel. The board hovered just off the ground as she clipped on her helmet. Both boys stared in awe at the seemingly normal board as it patiently waited for a passenger. When Gaia noticed them staring, she simply said, “Magic.” 

The three of them made their way through town. Jim and Toby were still geeking out over the amulet’s powers and why it activated ‘randomly’ during school. The sun was setting as they made their way onto a road with some construction going on. Gaia stopped and squinted to see the end of the road.

“Hey, you two, hold up a second.”

They both stopped next to her and looked to try and see what she was looking at. An earth-shattering roar disrupted the still evening air, and all three of them screamed. That roar could only come from one troll. Bular.


End file.
